Premiering at 9 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, July 30, the episode will show Ferguson — who thought that he came from a "nice, normal family" — uncovering the life of his great-grandfather whom trouble seemed to follow at every turn.

"Jesse's ancestor had an unusually varied career that included a lot of ambiguous episodes, which is the kind of history that is the most fun to investigate and learn about," Sandage said.

Sandage was impressed by how much historical research the "Who Do You Think You Are?" staff had done on their own and how they were not interested in sensationalizing findings.

"They were careful and conservative when it came to jumping to conclusions," he said. "For example, I turned up some evidence suggesting that Jesse's ancestor spoke at a presidential campaign rally with Teddy Roosevelt, but they did not use that bit because we could not prove that they were on the platform at the same time. That hesitancy gave me a lot of confidence that although they are producing entertainment, they had a real commitment to sticking to facts."